Shell’s Organic 3-3-3 Garden Fertilizer is specially formulated for Florida gardens to amend our sandy soil with nutrients that plants need to grow, thrive, and provide you with beautiful fruits, vegetables and flowers for your family.  The formulation was created by Shell’s Feed & Garden Supply, Inc. President, Greg Shell, to provide an organic fertilizing solution for home gardeners looking to expand their growing capacity without harming the environment and our precious Florida aquifer water supply.

We are happy to share some of the technical specifications of this proprietary blend for your information.

Here is a couple of definitions to help you along:

N-P-K = Nitrogen – Phosphorus – Potash – these are the ratios of these three nutrients in the fertilizer mix and the scale by which all fertilizers are measured.

Chelator = a substance that binds to an ion – chelation is how plants absorb certain nutrients from the soil

Technical Specifications for Shell’s Organic Garden Mix 3-3-3

Bone Meal: An excellent source of plant-available phosphorus. Provides calcium, around 20%, and a small amount of nitrogen; excellent for new plants and transplants.

Humates: This rich, humus based granular soil conditioner improves acidity levels and acts as an organic chelator, which helps the plants utilize the nutrients in the soil. Humates also stimulate microbial growth. Humates overall, help improve poor soil.

Micorrhizae: Fungi who establish a network of nutrient-gathering networks which live in symbiosis with the plant. Micorrhizal networks can gather nutrients from the soil across a much wider area than the actual plant, and your plant will thrive (so will the micorrhizae). When you see mushrooms, you know that your soil has a healthy micorrhizal network.

Pasteurized Poultry Litter: This product is totally organic, no chemicals. Helps to build soil and roots through microbial activity. The N-P-K is slow to release, which eliminates any burning and provides a continuous feed of the nutrients for several weeks.

Kelp: This product contains nutrients from A-Z. Kelp helps to condition soil, retain moisture, stimulate roots, and plant growth. It also helps to reduce the effects of drought and frost. The nutrients are released by microbial activity.

Blood Meal:  Blood meal is a fast releasing, organic source of nitrogen for plants. Blood meal is around a 12-0-0(N-P-K). This is a good source of quick nitrogen, especially in vegetable gardens, which may lack enough amounts for plants to start growing.

Soft Rock Phosphate (SRP): Rock phosphate is an excellent source of phosphorus, calcium, and essential trace elements. SRP has about 1/5 of lime’s neutralizing power. SRP is both an immediate source and long term feeding of phosphorus for plants. Soft rock phosphates stay where they are applied, thus no leaching.

Biosolids: Top Choice Organic, is an all natural Class “A” Exceptional Quality pelletized fertilizer and soil conditioner that is an important ingredient in Shell’s 3-3-3 Mix. With its high organic content and valuable nutrients, Top Choice Organic is widely requested to enhance commercial organic fertility programs. By adding this organic matter to Shell’s Organic mix it creates the ability to enhance nutrient uptake, increase the moisture holding capacity, and improves the soils ability to produce healthier crops, because the organic matter causes nutrients to stay near the top enriching the soil because minerals and metal ions bind to it. Top Choice Organic matter substantially improves the nutrient exchange capacity of the soil, especially in the south where we have poor sandy soils that not only lack the ability to hold onto important nutrients, but also transfer them to the plants using the proper chemistry needed. This is known as the “Cation Exchange Capacity” of the soil. As you can see, this is a very important ingredient in making the Shell’s 3-3-3 Mix a quality, and regional specific, organic fertilizer.

Basic Slag – Minor Element Mix: Basic Slag is a nutrient-rich soil amendment product that has excellent soil liming properties. Because of its nutrient content and value, Basic Slag can correctly be termed as a Minor Element Mix which helps maintain the best level of soil fertility. Basic Slag contains micronutrients and trace elements many researchers have found to be valuable to plant life. The wide range of nutrients contained in Basic Slag, include but are not limited to: Iron, Calcium, Magnesium, Manganese, and zinc. Basic Slag plays an important role in helping to obtain production efficiency. At unfavorable pH levels, many other products are insoluble and have nutrients that are inaccessible. The vital nutrients contained in Basic Slag are available at all pH levels. Basic Slag has a high neutralizing value making it an economical way to sweeten sour soils.

Sulfate of Potash (SOP):  No, we aren’t talking a Standard Operating Procedure here – unless you’re talking about organic gardening!  SOP provides high levels of Potassium for increased drought, heat, and cold tolerance in your plants. SOP has a very low salt (chloride) form of Potassium for use where soil or water salinity is a problem. SOP contains 18% sulfur for color and density.

K-Mag: (Sulfate of Potash-Magnesia 0-0-22) contains 22 percent potash, 11 percent magnesium, and 23 percent sulfur. It is an excellent source of non-chloride potassium, water soluble magnesium, and non-acidifying sulfur.

Potassium is required for the uptake of nitrogen and synthesis of protein and starch. It also helps activate more than sixty enzymes, making them available to stimulate other chemical processes within the plant. Adequate potassium is essential for fruit formation, optimum yields, and high quality.

Magnesium:  Activates a large number of enzymes in the plant and is also required for the synthesis of chlorophyll — the vital green pigment necessary for sugar manufacturing in plants.

Sulfur: Activates a number of enzymes, is vital to the formation of amino acids, is crucial in the production of protein, and is especially important to plants with high oil content.

Have a great gardening story with Shell’s Organic Garden Mix 3-3-3?

We are quite proud to bring this amazing organic soil amendment to market and encourage you to share your great results with Shell’s Organic Garden Mix 3-3-3!  Contact Us or call the store (813) 932-9775.  Feel free to post on our Facebook page, and/or tag us with a pic on Twitter and Instagram as well!  Make sure you like/follow us!  Thanks!